Understanding men's health and illness: A gender-relations approach to policy, research, and practice

Men's health has emerged as an important public concern that may require ne w kinds of healthcare interventions and increased resources. Considerable u ncertainty and confusion surround prevailing understandings of men's health , particularly those generated by media debate and public policy, and healt h research has often operated on oversimplified assumptions about men and m asculinity. A more useful way of understanding men's health is to adopt a g ender-relations approach. This means examining health concerns in the conte xt of men's and women's interactions with each other, and their positions i n the larger, multidimensional structure of gender relations. Such an appro ach raises the issue of differences among men, which is a key issue in rece nt research on masculinity and an important health issue. The gender-relati ons approach offers new ways of addressing practical issues of healthcare f or men in college environments.